The Unexpected
by VivianaLockhart
Summary: I was wondering what if Jenny Shepard didn't die? What if for some reason I bring her back? I loved that character she was strong and fearless and she managed Gibbs in a way he couldn't resist. I always thought both have powerful eyes. Hope you like it.


Something unexpected happened and only one man knows the truth and plans on keeping it that way for a while…

She was lying on the floor of an abandoned diner after a huge fight with the Russians; she was bleeding to death after receiving five gunshots and covered by some pieces of old wood. Mike Franks noticed her gasping for air, she wanted to tell him something but couldn't, he was always prepared to this kind of situations because his life was in constant jeopardy so he extracted a syringe with a chemical he once was told as a deep sedative just to make her comfortable, he imagined the excruciating pain she was experiencing, he showed the syringe to her and she nodded with her beautiful blue eyes. His last words for her were "he is in love with you, remember that when you two meet later". He meant in Heaven or wherever they meet. The liquid went directly through her veins and she just closed her eyes. Mike was feeling sick of doing it, so he decide to leave soon, he didn't want to explain everything to her agents in charge of escorting her.

She was found by her escorts, the ones in charge of her safety. As ironical as it sounds they were just arriving to her crime scene; it took them 2 seconds to find her without vitals. They just made the call and were ordered to stay there until the ME of town arrived.

The local ME arrived in no time and picked Director Shepard's body and went to local autopsy, while the agents stayed there to pick up the evidence and wait to new Director Vance. Director Vance was familiar in town so that' why the ME arrived promptly, it was better that way, no}t everyday a Director from a Federal Agency was killed and it would be the best day for the press to find out so even he didn't like Shepard, he respected her.

Back in autopsy, the local ME was unzipping the typical black body bag when he noticed something strange, the body was supposed to be mostly pale, but instead of having temperature decreasing it was going the other way, he couldn't explain the situation, it was odd and after a couple of minutes the same Jenny Shepard who was declared dead was showing slight signs of life. The doctor started to give her his whole attention, trying to get her back, giving her CPR, connecting her to machines (his weren't the best but could help her until the paramedics arrive) he couldn't believe what his eyes were witnessing, and it was impossible, never happened to him before but knew some colleagues who experienced this. He called 911 explaining the emergency operator the situation, he needed help quick, paramedics arrived in 2 minutes and started their work with the doctor, she was unconscious, lifeless but still there was something else to do. The ME went in the ambulance with the paramedics, he called Vance and told him the situation and Vance told him to keep it as secret as possible, they both didn't know the outcome of that miracle, so Vance decided to be as cautious as possible.

In the hospital, the emergency team couldn't believe the case, the extraordinary way of reaction of that body, even if it was for a little while, returning from the death was something the doctors at emergency were used to, but not when the body hit the autopsy area to come back to the living.

The ME was in charge of giving the details of that woman, he called her Josephine Sullivan, fr apparently no reason, she needed a new identity as Vance asked. Of course he needed to explain the gunshots, the origin of all her injuries but he just said he was about to start his autopsy when her body started to come alive bit by bit. He never had the chance to review the documents from the police or so. Just when he was being asked Vance arrived with a bunch of federals, including the FBI, and they took in charge of everything regarding that matter.

Back in the emergency room, the doctors try to stabilize her to be able to enter to the operation room, she needed surgery urgently, the surgeons weren't sure her body could resist such intervention but if she came from the death, they had a shot with her, so they just proceed. They never saw such a fighter, it was worth to try and save her life, even if she could stay comatose all her life.

The FBI and Vance agreed to keep everything out of the loop, it was better that way because the outcome was completely uncertain, besides, the Russians were still outside, that revenge wasn't over, Gibbs was next and he needed time to think what to do next to capture the Russians. Vance didn't know the reason at all the reason they have to kill Jenny Shepard, but he knew everything related to her was directly related to Gibbs too.

He also knew Gibbs would kill the bastard who did that to Jenny, so the main task was to focus on Jenny's wellbeing if that was possible. Her condition was critical to say the most and after what she's been through who knows what her life could be.

The entire situation made Vance think, he wanted Jenny's job so bad, but this weren't the conditions he expected, of course the competition was interesting and he knew his competitor was a fearless woman who climbed the row into politics with such elegance he was astonished, however, to reach that position by other circumstances wasn't the ideal but was what was happening now.

He also thought about the future, if Jenny gets through this he needed a plan to keep her safe to recuperate after all she's been through. The proximity between Gibb and Jenny was evident but dangerous; Vance wanted to direct the agency but he needed an ally and after the plans he had for Gibbs and his team, he knew eventually Jethro would be hi ally, so he decided to keep the secret about Jenny for as long as he could.

After several hours the surgeons finally finished with Jenny, she was in the ICU at least to get stable, it was uncertain if she would wake up again but the possibilities were there, as slight as they could be in that situation.

During Jenny's surgery, in Washington Gibbs met Mike Franks to know what the hell happened, he was pissed but mostly hurt, he loved her very much, he never told her that but he regretted not being honest with her, she deserved to know. They met in an alley, nobody was there except of them, Mike knew about Gibbs feelings towards Jenny and told him what he needed to know…

Mike: "Don't worry gunny, I told her how you feel before… you know…"

After that, Mike embraced his probie in a hug to comfort him. They chat a little bit, Gibbs knew, who was after Jenny was after him too. He didn't want to get Mike into this but Mike insisted and he knew how Mike was in these situations. Both did what they needed to do, the woman that appeared as expected in Jenny's house and Gibbs was there waiting for her, after a moment Mike shot her and that was it, the end of an era, Gibbs' revenge. Jenny didn't have close family to look after her, her house was beautiful and had a lot of memories and stuff, Gibbs decided to collect some of her stuff in a box he knew was close to Jen as he loved to call her, nobody would collect her stuff and for evidence purposes Gibbs and Mike needed to burn the house.

Mike and Gibbs part separately after burning the house listening to the sirens of the firefighters. They just said their good byes until who knows when.

Back in the hospital, three days has passed and it was time for a change of facility, the FBI was in charge of keeping her in the best conditions possible and only to report to Vance for that matter. Not even Fornell was aware of this situation and as Vance asked it was going to be that way, at least for a while.

Jenny was brought to a medical facility the FBI has for these secret cases, the condition of Jenny was stable but unconscious, the doctors evaluated her and were glad her physical injuries were improving but they weren't sure about when would she wake up. It was a mystery, the way the mind works is something unexpected and in this case the situation was way too delicate.

Back in Washington, the team came back from the funeral of Director Shepard, all of them were emotionally beaten and sad, the bullpen was quiet due to the situation. Gibbs as always was in his mute state, Abby was crying silently hugged by McGee and Ziva was in the same state as Abby without tears but she looked obviously sad trying to assure Tony it was not his fault.

None of them were expecting what was about to come in the next minutes Vance's secretary came down to tell Gibbs and the team that "Director Vance" wanted to see them at his office.

What happened inside it was shocking, Gibbs was about to say something but6 couldn't, Ziva dropped her eyes as a sign of defeat, McGee's face was unable to be read and Tony was pissed, it was totally unexpected. All the team got together at Abby's lab, she didn't want to let them go but sooner or later that was about to happen. Ziva was scheduled to board a plane in 6 hours so she was the first to go, Tony offered to go with her but since both had cars, she told her it wasn't necessary and to keep in touch as possible. McGee stayed with Abby until it was really late and he gave her a ride home and then headed home too. Tony went to his house to pack his things, make the arrangements for his apartment to be taken care of and brought his fish to McGee asking him to take care of Kate, and then he decided to go to Gibbs' before going to the ship he was about to board.

Everything seemed to be a mess, Tony couldn't believe his boss was doing nothing about the situation, what happened to jenny was too much to handle to actually fight for his team, maybe he was in love with Jenny after all.

Vance had other problems to deal with and by separating the team; he wanted to solve the major problem, treason.


End file.
